The fluidic system of a conventional flow cytometer incorporates an air and/or vacuum pump to pressurize and pump sheath fluid from a high-pressure container to the interrogation zone of a flow cell. These fluidic systems are typically arduous to assemble (which increases the costs of the flow cytometer), heavy to haul (which limits the repair options), and challenging to calibrate (which induces errors in the data).
A conventional flow cytometer uses a drawtube to draw in a sample fluid. The drawtube draws in a sample fluid through direct contact with the sample fluid. Since old sample remnants and contaminants left in the drawtube can alter the results for future samples, it is important to insure a clean drawtube when switching between different samples. Conventional flow cytometers typically require manual washing (which requires the presence of the user before starting different sample).
Thus, there is a need in the flow cytometer field to create an improved fluidic system, one in which the fluidic system can also wash the drawtube. This invention provides such an improved fluidic system with washing capabilities for a flow cytometer.